Antony Beevor, The Battle of Arnhem

Antony Beevor, The Battle of Arnhem: The Deadliest Airborne Operation of World War II.

America's 'Reichstag Fire'

At Theo's , "Let's be very CLEAR. The Capitol event was America's "Reichstag Fire" and was staged by the Left (Antifa-BLM) to 'seal the steal'."

Frankly, that's the best analogy I can come up with myself. In fact, last night I was reading William Shirer's, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, which has a long section on the both the fire and the political machinations. 

The Nazis were lucky, as apparently there was one actual communist who had entered the building that day to set fires, shortly before Goebbels and Goering's "Brown Shirts" stormed the building with containers of gasoline. Once the fuse was lit, with flames reaching higher than surrounding rooftops, and having their scapegoat, Goebbels and Goering seized the moment, to "never let a crisis go to waste," and initiated the massive crackdown on dissent that culminated in the passage of Hitler's "Enabling Act of 1933." This law literally gave all legislative power to the chancellor's office. The national parliamentary elections held shortly thereafter were completely rigged, with members of opposition parties banned from the building, attacked by Brown Shirt mobs, and in many case, murdered in summary executions after the fact. 

As we're seeing more news that the Capitol riot was planned days in advance, the leftist narrative that Trump "incited" the riot is completely falling apart. 

Know your history, people. The truth is starting to trickle out, and it's going to redound to the everlasting regret of our leftist domestic enemies and literal terrorists (see Portland, Oregon). 

Sonia Purnell, A Woman of No Importance

Sonia Purnell, A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II. 

James Holland, Sicily '43

James Holland, Sicily '43: The First Assault on Fortress Europe.

Chester Nez, Code Talker

Chester Nez, Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII.

John R. Bruning, Race of Aces

John R. Bruning, Race of Aces: WWII's Elite Airmen and the Epic Battle to Become the Master of the Sky.

Max Hastings, Operation Chastise

Max Hastings, Operation Chastise: The RAF's Most Brilliant Attack of World War II.

Craig L. Symonds, World War II at Sea

At Amazon, Craig L. Symonds, World War II at Sea: A Global History.

Yesterday Was the 75 Anniversary of the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima

I didn't blog yesterday --- I was binge watching "Game of Thrones" --- but in what news I did follow yesterday I didn't see anything about the August 6, 1945. Last week I watched a History Channel segment on the aftermath of Hiroshima on Nagasaki. The U.S. sent American scientists to study the effects of radiation on the two leveled cities. I think young people today have no idea of the kind of human destruction possible with the invention of the atom bomb. When you get pulled back into that history and historical debate over justifications and "never again," it's just extremely fascinating.

In any case, here's a cool thread from Foreign Affairs:

“August 6, 1945, will remain forever a milestone in human annals. On that date the world’s first atomic fission bomb was dropped upon Japan,” the military correspondent Hanson W. Baldwin wrote in our October 1945 issue.https://t.co/2bm5UAvf6h

— Foreign Affairs (@ForeignAffairs) August 6, 2020

The detonation of atomic bombs in Hiroshima on August 6 and Nagasaki on August 9 devastated both cities, killing tens of thousands of people in the initial blasts alone. In the 75 years since, avoiding the use of nuclear weapons in war has preoccupied generations of policymakers.

— Foreign Affairs (@ForeignAffairs) August 6, 2020

In our July 1953 issue, J. Robert Oppenheimer, who directed the project to develop the bombs used in World War II, wrote about the existential danger of the era of nuclear war:https://t.co/qKo6IfX4ZQ

— Foreign Affairs (@ForeignAffairs) August 6, 2020

In April 1956, Henry Kissinger considered how the bomb had transformed notions of war and peace, and what that meant for Cold War policy:https://t.co/46Pmz7nCdg

— Foreign Affairs (@ForeignAffairs) August 6, 2020

In January 1957, U.S. Army historian Louis Morton examined the deliberations that went into the decision to use the bomb:https://t.co/YaFl9QJr8Y

— Foreign Affairs (@ForeignAffairs) August 6, 2020

In summer 1983, the physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, who participated in the Soviet Union’s atomic bomb project, advocated for disarmament: https://t.co/BGiB9k8rJF

— Foreign Affairs (@ForeignAffairs) August 6, 2020

No nuclear weapon has been used in war for 75 years—“the single most important accomplishment of the nuclear age,” according to Nina Tannenwald. But the norms and institutions of nuclear restraint are unraveling.https://t.co/qkzgqQDlSi

— Foreign Affairs (@ForeignAffairs) August 6, 2020

The next 75 years are not guaranteed. As Ernest J. Moniz and Sam Nunn write, catastrophe “has become disturbingly plausible . . . all that is needed is a spark to light the tinder.”https://t.co/yidPdgc3tG

— Foreign Affairs (@ForeignAffairs) August 6, 2020

John C. McManus, Fire and Fortitude

John C. McManus, Fire and Fortitude: The US Army in the Pacific War, 1941-1943.

Gordon Thomas and Greg Lewis, Defying Hitler

At Amazon, Gordon Thomas and Greg Lewis, Defying Hitler: The Germans Who Resisted Nazi Rule.

Anthony Beevor, The Battle of Arnhem

Ed Driscoll posts the New York Times book review here, "BOTCH ON THE RHINE."

And at Amazon, Anthony Beevor, The Battle of Arnhem: The Deadliest Airborne Operation of World War II.

WWII Veterans Hard Hit by Coronavirus

Well, some of these old whippersnappers are pushing 100. Darn right they're getting hammered by this disease, and it's a shame.

At the Des Moines Register:

With the coronavirus disproportionately claiming the elderly, especially nursing home residents, some worry it could accelerate the passing of the World War II veterans known as The Greatest Generation. https://t.co/hHEZequmzz

— Des Moines Register (@DMRegister) May 15, 2020

Richard Overy, Why the Allies Won

At Amazon, Richard Overy, Why the Allies Won.

Brendan Simms, Hitler

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Brendan Simms, Hitler: A Global Biography.

John Dower, Embracing Defeat

At Amazon, John Dower, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II.

John Toland, The Rising Sun

At Amazon, John Toland, The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945.

Gordon Prange, At Dawn We Slept

At Amazon, Gordon Prange, At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor.

Local Pearl Harbor Veteran Will Be the Last Interred on Battleship Arizona

Great story.

Only three survivors left.

At LAT, "End of an era: Last Pearl Harbor veteran to be interred at USS Arizona Memorial":

Lauren Bruner was the second-to-last man to escape the explosion at the USS Arizona during the Pearl Harbor attack that killed thousands, including his best friend.

Tonight at sunset, his ashes will be returned to the sea that cradled his fallen comrades https://t.co/DTOy6Io5Uw

— Colleen Shalby (@CShalby) December 7, 2019

Just before 8 a.m. on a Sunday morning 78 years ago, Lauren Bruner was preparing for church services and a date that would follow with a girl he’d met outside his Navy base.

The 21-year-old sailor was stationed as a fire controlman aboard the U.S. battleship Arizona, overseeing the vessel’s .50-caliber guns.

Then alarms rang out. A Japanese plane had bombed the ship in a surprise attack.

It took only nine minutes for the Arizona to sink after the first bomb hit. Bruner was struck by gunfire while trying to flee the inferno that consumed the ship, the second-to-last man to escape the explosion that killed 1,177, including his best friend; 335 survived.

More than 70% of Bruner’s body was burned. He was hospitalized for weeks.

Now, nearly eight decades after that fateful day, Bruner’s ashes will be delivered to the sea that cradled his fallen comrades, stored in an urn inside the battleship’s wreckage.

Bruner, who died in his sleep Sept. 10 at age 98, will be the 44th and final crew member to be interred at the site, a decision he made nearly 30 years ago. The last three surviving members of the Arizona’s crew have all chosen to be laid to rest with their families.

A moment of silence will be observed at 7:55 a.m. Hawaii Standard Time on Saturday (9:55 PST), the exact moment the bombings began so many years ago, followed by an annual public ceremony at Pearl Harbor to remember those killed in the attack.

Lou Conter, 98, one of the last three surviving crew members, will be at the interment, coordinated by the U.S. Navy and the National Park Service and attended by about 160 loved ones of Bruner.

In Colorado Springs, Colo., fellow survivors Donald Stratton, 97, and Ken Potts, 98, will watch a livestream of the event alongside the daughter of Joe George, the man who saved Stratton and Bruner when he tossed them a rope from the repair ship Vestal 100 feet away, which the men used to pull themselves to safety.

“I was there when he was strafed by a passing Japanese plane — wounded in his leg. He watched me climb across the burning water to relative safety aboard the Vestal, and I encouraged him to keep going when it was his turn to cross,” Stratton said of Bruner.

“The bonds of brotherhood are forged working side by side, but nothing connects men more than going through something like that. We were lucky, blessed, to make it out of there.”

In 2017, Stratton and Bruner presented the Bronze Star for valor posthumously to George by way of his daughter, Joe Ann Taylor, at the Pearl Harbor memorial in Hawaii. Stratton said it was a defining moment for both of them.

“We were the lucky ones to escape, thanks to Joe. If I could ask one thing, it would be for people to remember the ones who died, the ones who never really got a chance to live. Remember their stories,” he said. “Remember our story and never let something like this happen again.”

Bruner was an easygoing man who enjoyed a slice of pizza and a cold beer. He regaled people with stories, hesitant only when it came to discussing the events of Dec. 7, 1941. He outlived two wives and a longtime girlfriend whose family considers him their own..

More.

Evan Mawdsley, The War for the Seas

At Amazon, Evan Mawdsley, The War for the Seas: A Maritime History of World War II.